


Soaring Through The Stars (With You)

by iris_avis (starryeyedlarry)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: It is now, M/M, alternative ages, dragon handlers au, for becca because reasons, if that's even a thing, young teens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-04-05 15:41:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4185471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryeyedlarry/pseuds/iris_avis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis leans back on his hands and studies the male dragon for a moment. </p><p>"Cincinnatus..." He repeats, testing the elaborate name on his tongue. "Why Cincinnatus? What does it mean?"</p><p>The other boy doesn't answer for a second, and Louis glances over to see that he looks quite flushed. Embarrassed. </p><p>"You don't have to say." Louis quickly adds. "I'm just being nosey. I'm Louis, by the way."</p><p>"Harry." The other boy replies, lifting a hand to push his fingers through his hair a bit. "And um. His name means 'a person with curly hair'. It's Latin." </p><p>And Louis nearly laughs again, because what a brilliant name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soaring Through The Stars (With You)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [neocosplaycat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neocosplaycat/gifts).



> Just a little something I did for Becca. Because it's her birthday present, and it's Harry and Louis with dragons.

Running.

Running is Louis’ second-most favourite thing in the world. The hard press of the ground beneath his feet, the wind rushing through his hair and pushing his fringe back from his face, arms slicing through the air with knife-sharp precision, propelling him forward, _faster_. He has to be fast, if he’s going to catch up in time.

They use the cliff-edge for this. Every time. It’s the best way to do it. Ever since Louis was ten and he’d first tried this, it’s always been this very cliff-edge. No other place like it.

He passes the rock. The rock shaped like a crooked pyramid. The signal that tells him it’s time to burst into his fastest, shortest stretch – the final stretch – before he leaps.

His feet quicken, arms pumping faster. His chest aches, the ground beneath him feels like it’s moving away from him too quickly as he runs, like he’s on a treadmill that’s set too fast.

It’s perfect.

Just as he reaches the right spot, exactly fourteen running paces from the crooked rock, he leaps forward-.

-and is caught with silent, practiced ease.

"Wooo! _Yeah_!" He grips on tight with one hand and punches the sky with the other. The air is soaring past him faster now, his fringe swept right back against his head, whipped down tight by the wind.

He can’t stop grinning.

Running is Louis’ second-most favourite thing in the world.

His first?

Flying.

 

*

 

"No?" Louis waggles the apple slice further under Giulia’s nose. She huffs a snort of disapproval. Louis shrugs. "Suit yourself." And he eats the slice instead.

Giulia doesn’t seem overly bothered, just pats her front feet against the ground a few times and shakes her head a bit. Louis watches her as he chews, pockets his bag of apple slices and crosses his arms. Giulia then shakes her entire body from snout to tail, rippling the shockwaves through every scale like a full-body shiver. Louis raises an eyebrow. He knows that glow to her eyes.

"You’re frolicking." He smirks.

Giulia immediately halts and turns her head to look at him, clearly offended. Or embarrassed. Or both.

Louis grins. "You’re _frolicking_ , Giul." And he shoves her a little, though of course she doesn’t budge.

She huffs another snort and turns away from him. But Louis’ not about to let this go so quickly. He jogs under her left wing and around so he’s level with her face again. "Oi." He pokes her on the nose. "What’s got you _frolicking_ , ey?" Louis meets her lilac eyes and gives her a look, then darts his eyes about them both, searching, though perhaps more mocking than serious. She’s his dragon, he can mock her if he pleases. "Who can you _smell_?"

Giulia blinks for a second, like she’s unsure of whether or not to tell him, then lifts her head and looks up at the cliff they’d just flown down from.

Louis frowns, still amused. "The cliff?"

Giulia stretches her neck further, delicate scales glinting in the sun. Louis reaches up to pat her gently.

"What’s up on the cliff, Giul?"

Giulia turns back to him again and shoves him with her nose, enough to make him stumble back a little.

"Woah, alright. Alright." Louis lifts his hands in innocence. "You want to go back up? Check it out?"

Giulia huffs again, but firmer and higher in her throat. A yes.

Louis chuckles and climbs up onto her back, leaning forward to softly scratch behind her right ear a bit. "Come on then, girl. Up, up."

Giulia doesn’t need telling twice. She extends both wings to full span and flaps them twice to raise herself off the beach. In seconds, they’re swooping up higher than the clifftop so that Giulia can land safely, with her platform in clear sight.

Louis can make out another figure in the grass, with a larger figure beside it, but until Giulia has landed, he can’t tell who it is.

"Easy, girl." Louis pats her neck gently as she lands. Her scales are warmer than usual under his fingers and he quirks an eyebrow. She really was frolicking down on the beach. Huh.

Louis turns around then, keen on finding the two figures he saw from the air. It’s unusual that anyone else comes to this cliff-edge. That’s why he and Giulia use it so much for their running starts. It’s almost always completely deserted.

Apart from today, it seems.

Louis approaches slowly, mindful that dragons are extremely protective over their human companions. He doesn’t fancy being made into a clifftop barbecue, thanks.

The smaller figure, definitely human, is laid back in amongst the grass. His dragon is beside him, also laying down. Though every few seconds it’ll lift its head and scan the area, blinking slowly – good, _calm_. But it’s a large dragon, clearly male, and Louis stops a few metres away from the pair, far enough so he’s out of sight but close enough so he can watch them. Just to be safe.

The human is incredibly pretty. Louis doesn’t recognise him. He doesn’t recognise the dragon either and it puzzles him. Surely a fellow human-and-dragon companionship of his age would stand out to him in a crowd? Yet Louis swears he’s never seen these two before in his life.

Giulia snorts from back where they landed and Louis turns over his shoulder to see she’s frolicking again, this time with her wings out to catch the breeze and flutter gently. He rolls his eyes and turns back to watch the human again-

-only to find his vision completely filled by a dangerously large amount of dragon eyeball.

"Aghh!" Louis panics and flies backwards, scuffling on his hands and feet to create some distance between himself and the strange beast.

The dragon doesn’t advance, not straight away, he seems to be studying Louis, blinking slowly and letting short, possessive puffs of air leave his nostrils. Louis knows this behaviour. This is an extremely attached dragon right here. And it shows even more when the dragon starts moving forward, looming over a frozen Louis and increasing the volume of his huffs, letting tiny curls of smoke seep out with each one. This is _warning_ behaviour. Okay then.

Louis, ever the humorous type when faced with possible danger, is about to make some sarcastic comment about how his _own_ dragon is too busy _flirting_ to be protective over him, when a voice calls out into the gentle silence of the clifftop – well, the silence save for the huffs from the dragon right on top of Louis, that is.

"Cincin! Hey! Come away, you big idiot, stop scaring people!"

Louis, with one eye still on the dragon hovering over him, hesitantly leans out to crane his neck and meet the eyes of the human a few metres away. He’s sat up now, and when he notices Louis’ looking, he smiles. Big and genuine and dimply. Oh.

Then he drops the smile, breaks eye contact with Louis and calls for his dragon again. "Cincin! Come away!" Louis probably shouldn’t focus as much as he does on the way the stranger’s forehead creases so animatedly when he realises his dragon is ignoring him. He definitely shouldn’t find it as endearing as he does. "Cincinnatus, get your scaly arse over here right now."

This seems to work, because with one final huff that sends a curl of smoke fanning across Louis’ face and making him cough, the honey-yellowed eyes of the creature are suddenly gone, and Louis can breathe again.

He watches as the dragon returns to his place beside his human, and smiles at the obvious bond between the pair when the human pats his neck and the dragon settles. It’s nice. Especially between a bond of the same gender. Usually, the best bonds work when human and dragon are different. But unless Louis’ eyesight is particularly poor, this human is definitely a teenage boy, and this is definitely a male dragon.

Wait. Is this the dragon that’s got Giulia so worked up?

Louis turns where he’s still seated in the grass and, sure enough, Giulia is bending and bowing her head repeatedly. Proper showing off now.

"Oi, little lady. Pack it in." Louis points a finger at her. "I mean it, we’ll have no flirting from you, madam."

Giulia pauses to consider Louis’ command, cocking her head for a short second before huffing twice and continuing anyway.

Louis rolls his eyes and brushes a hand across his face. He tried his best.

"She’s okay." Comes the stranger’s voice from some way off to his left, and Louis turns back again, meeting the eyes of the boy once more. "Honestly, I don’t think Cincinnatus minds all that much." He nods to where his dragon is watching Giulia, curiosity obvious in the slight tilt of his head. Louis almost laughs, he looks like a confused kitten.

Louis leans back on his hands and studies the male dragon for a moment.

"Cincinnatus." He repeats, testing the elaborate name on his tongue. "Why Cincinnatus? What does it mean?"

The other boy doesn’t answer for a second, and Louis glances over to see that he looks quite flushed. Embarrassed.

"You don’t have to say." Louis quickly adds. "I’m just being nosey. I’m Louis, by the way."

"Harry." The other boy replies, lifting a hand to push his fingers through his hair a bit. "And um. His name means ‘a person with curly hair’. It’s Latin."

Louis nearly laughs again, because what a _brilliant_ name. Harry’s hair is impossibly unruly and messy with curls. They named his dragon accordingly. That’s _brilliant_ because-

"I know, it’s silly. You’d think they’d come up with something better. I mean, I’ve heard of the dragons being named after our appearances before, but it’s rare, isn’t it? Normally it’s personality traits or emotions or _destinies_. Not _hairstyles_." Harry mumbles, picking at the grass between his feet.

Louis decides it’s safe to shuffle a little closer, especially since-

"Hey, no. Giulia is Latin too. Means ‘soft-haired’." Louis brushes his hand back and forth across his feathery fringe, messing it up and grinning at Harry. "So I’m with you, mate. Mine’s silly too."

At this, Giulia lets out a particularly loud snort and even grunts a little bit. Louis chuckles and turns to address her. "The _name_ , Princess. It’s nothing personal."

She lifts her nose snootily, but after a second she’s distracted by trying to impress Cincinnatus again and Louis turns back to Harry. The boy is watching Giulia’s display with a slight smile on his lips.

"She’s beautiful." He says, eyes shining. Louis catches himself glancing down to Harry’s mouth for a second.

"Yeah. Yeah, she is. I’m lucky, me." Louis looks back to watch Giulia for a second too, then turns to begin picking at the grass the same way Harry had been. "So what are you doing up here? I’ve never seen you before."

"Oh, do you live up here then?" Harry asks, a teasing tone to his voice. Louis wants to swat him on the arm.

"No. But we _are_ up here quite often. I feel like I would’ve met you by now, if this is a regular hiding place for you." Louis elbows him gently.

Harry looks up from where he’s plaiting three blades of grass and fixes Louis with a look that reminds him of a goldfish. "How did you know I’m hiding?"

Louis smirks, letting his gaze drop to Harry’s parted mouth again, just for a second, before he focuses on stripping a blade of grass between his fingers. "I didn’t." After a few seconds of Harry’s confused silence, he looks up to meet Harry’s eyes, letting his smirk grow a bit. "I had an inkling, and _you_ just confirmed it. So, thank you. My inkling was right. You’re _hiding_."

Harry blinks at him, then throws the plaited grass at his face and pouts. "I don’t like you."

Louis laughs then, dropping his shredded grassy mess and brushing his hands together so he can place them under his head when he lies back in the grass and stares up at the sky. Harry stays sat up though, having retrieved his plaited grass to continue it. Louis watches how his frown of concentration grows deeper by the second as he focuses on the fiddly task in his fingers.

Louis finds him interesting. He twists his right ankle to bump the toe of his shoe against Harry’s knee. "So, who are you hiding from?"

There’s a few beats of silence, where Louis just watches the back of Harry’s curly head, and the sounds of the sea below them suddenly become noticeable now that they’ve stopped talking. In the pause, Louis quickly cranes his neck back to check on Giulia and Cincinnatus – who are now curled up rather snugly and seem to be sleeping.

Harry still hasn’t answered; and Louis gets the feeling he isn’t going to.

"They’re getting on quite well aren’t they?" He says instead, changing the subject. Harry turns to look over at the sleeping dragons and nods, a soft smile playing at his lips.

"Yeah, it’s nice."

Louis nods as much as he can while laid down, and focuses his attention on the clouds gliding past overhead. None seem to be making any shapes worthy of mentioning though, and after a few seconds, he feels his eyes drifting shut. He’s not tired, just relaxed. And it’s nice to be relaxed with company for once. Well, company that isn’t Giulia, that is.

The gentle breeze whistles through the grass around them, and they must be near a pond because Louis swears he hears reeds humming or something. Only, the humming suddenly grows more tuneful after a few seconds and Louis realises it’s Harry. He doesn’t say anything. Just listens. It’s nice.

 

*

 

 

After a while, Louis squints one eye open to see Harry settling down beside him, a long string of plaited grass pushing his curly hair back from his face.

 

*

 

 

They stay there until the sky turns inky black; and the sea with it. Louis can’t remember everything they talk about. He doesn’t bring up the hiding thing again and neither does Harry. Giulia and Cincinnatus are still dozing, curled in on one another, and Louis likes that they seem to have made friends so quickly.

Sort of like him and Harry, really. Only they aren’t curled in on one another.

Louis isn’t sure whether he likes that or not.

Once the tide is all the way in, lapping at the foot of the cliff and lulling Louis into a half-sleep state, Harry gets up.

"Where are you going?" Louis asks, groggy but not enough to fuzz up his brain too much.

Harry seems to ponder the phrasing of his answer, then frowns at Louis, deep and animated. "Don’t you have to get home too?"

Louis cranes his neck to check on the dragons, then looks back at Harry again. "Not yet. My curfew isn’t until midnight."

"How do you know when it’s midnight?" Harry asks, and Louis only grins.

"Stay with me and you’ll find out." He says, and after a few seconds of reluctant contemplation, Harry nods and lies back down again.

Louis smiles at the stars.

 

*

 

 

They both must’ve ended up dozing, because when Giulia starts making noises, Louis realises that his face is buried in Harry’s curls, and Harry has his ankle slotted loosely through Louis’.

"Mmh-? Louis-?" Harry blinks awake, eyes blown and sleepy. Louis ignores how tangled their legs become when Harry shifts and instead elbows him lightly and gestures to where Giulia is now standing up, wings spread wide and chin lifted high in the air. "What’s she-?"

"It’s midnight." Louis whispers, though he’s not sure why, and scrambles up to jog over to his dragon. "Gonna make this one extra special, okay Giul? Need to show Harry how amazing you are."

Giulia seems to agree, preening a little under the compliments and Louis’ hand on her flank.

Then Louis climbs up onto her back.

"Louis! What’re you doing?" Harry calls from where he’s still half sat up in the grass, his voice is a whisper that’s sort of a shout and it only just reaches Louis’ ears over the soothing crash of the sea below them. "We’re not allowed to fly this late!"

Something about the comment strikes Louis as odd, but he ignores it for now. He also ignores Harry altogether, more intent on getting Giulia up in the air. But then a thought occurs to him.

"Haz?" He tries out, new nicknames are always interesting. It gets Harry’s attention though, so Louis figures he’ll stick with it. "Wanna jump on?"

Harry blanches, even in the light from the moon above them he seems to grow paler still, and shakes his head from his seat on the ground, curls bouncing around his head.

Louis laughs lightly, counterbalancing his weight through his hips when Giulia shifts impatiently. "Come on, Giul wants to show you her party trick."

Harry bites down on his bottom lip and Louis tries again. "So do I."

This seems to do it, because after only a few more seconds, Harry is getting up and jogging over to Cincinnatus to whisper something close to his ear before hurrying over to Louis and Giulia. "Okay."

"Okay." Louis grins and extends a hand for Harry to take, lifting him up onto Giulia’s back behind him. "Hold on, Harold." Oh, look. Another nickname. Louis likes these.

Harry’s arms snake tentatively around Louis’ waist, like he’s unsure where he’s putting them, and Louis rolls his eyes, letting go of Giulia so he can grab Harry’s arms and pull them more firmly around him. The movement makes Harry’s chin collide with Louis’ shoulder and a soft breath escape across his neck a little. Louis ignores both. "Tighter than that, god, have you never ridden like this before?" Louis chuckles, and if Harry was going to answer his rhetorical question – sort of evident by the short intake of breath – Louis cuts him off by patting Giulia twice on the neck. "Up, girl!"

And that’s that. Giul’s wings flap twice, three times, and they’re off of the ground. Harry’s grip tightens around Louis and Louis frowns a little, anyone would think this is the boy’s first flight.

"Come on, princess, let’s show Harry and his dragon what you can do!" Louis shouts over the rush of wind.

Giulia draws herself higher into the air, then kicks up once, extending her neck and banking right to swoop round on herself so she’s facing out to sea.

"Louis…" Harry murmurs just beside Louis’ ear. "You’re not taking me- We’re not going out to sea are we?"

Louis chuckles, lifting one hand from Giulia’s scales to gently stroke his thumb across the ridges of Harry’s knuckles at his waist. His hands are cold.

"Not very far out, no." He answers, turning his head so Harry can hear him. A stray curl flutters against Louis’ cheek. "Just keep holding on, she won’t drop us."

So Harry does, he tightens his grip again and even buries his chin in the crook of Louis’ shoulder. It sends shivers of warmth all over Louis’ skin and he can’t help but grin.

Giulia must sense his happiness because she bleats low in her throat and speeds up, wings beating in larger swipes, nose cutting through the air with practiced ease. She knows what she’s doing. Louis couldn’t be more proud, and they haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.

"When I said about it being midnight!" Louis shouts over the wind. "It’s because midnight is when Giulia really gets her mettle! She loves flying in the dark! Because!...." And Louis trails off, knowing that Giulia can continue for him.

And she does. Gradually, blending into the stars around them and the inky black of the cloudless night sky, the glinting shine from the sea below, where once was a perfect reflection of a dragon, there becomes nothing. Giulia’s fractured, watery image on the sea’s surface slowly dissolves right before the boys’ eyes, and Louis can hear it when Harry gasps behind him.

"She’s- We’re…" Harry can’t form sentences and Louis thinks that an achievement in itself.

"Blended in." Louis turns his head to whisper. "Gone invisible, she has." And at that, he grins.

Harry grins too. "How?"

Louis shrugs. "No idea. I was flying out late one night and suddenly she just did this." Louis explains. "It takes a lot out of her though, she gets super tired straight afterwards which is why I always go home then. S’why I go home at midnight, cos she can only do this at midnight." Louis continues explaining, patting twice on Giulia’s neck to get her to turn back toward the land. "Am I making any sense?" He says, turning to meet Harry’s eyes.

The change in direction means the wind is blowing the curls away from Harry’s face now, and Louis can take in every tiny feature there, up close and beautiful. How is Harry this beautiful?

"Yeah." Harry’s just looking at him, arms still wrapped around him tightly, chin now lifted away from Louis’ shoulder so they’re at eye level.

"She’s amazing." Harry breathes, tickling Louis’ lips with his words.

Louis can see the land approaching in the distance and decides that now, out over the sea in the pitch dark with only the moon to light up how Harry’s cheeks dimple when he smiles, is as good a time as any.

So he kisses him.

Harry clearly wasn’t expecting him to, because his arms flinch around Louis’ middle, like he thinks he’s about to fall right off of Giulia’s back. He’s not, but the little startle was cute and Louis can’t help but smile a little into the kiss. It’s sweet, tentative on both parts and Harry’s lips taste faintly like salty sea air.

When he pulls back, he stays close, nose brushing just beside Harry’s in a soft, kitten-like nuzzle before he huffs out a soft laugh and kisses him again, just once.

Giulia makes a noise then, signalling that they’re over land now instead of sea, and Louis holds Harry’s eyes until the very last second that he has to turn around to watch that Giulia lands okay.

When Harry’s arms slip away from Louis’ waist, it feels strangely absent there, cold. So once they’re both back on the ground, Louis grabs for Harry’s wrists and places them back where they were, making sure that Harry is facing him this time.

Harry grins, _beams_ , and gladly tightens his hold, tugging Louis just a few inches closer.

Giulia makes a guttural noise, and Louis can’t help but laugh, throwing his head back because he’s pretty sure that her noise was the dragon equivalent of "get a room". Whatever. She can hardly talk. What with the way she and Cincinnatus were getting along.

But he watches over Harry’s shoulder, making Harry frown and turn to watch too, as Giulia wanders around a bit on the clifftop, then moves to sit and rest her chin on Cincinnatus’ back.

"Aw, cute." Harry laughs lightly, and because he’s always trying to make people laugh, Louis stretches up onto his tiptoes and does his best to rest his chin on Harry’s head.

"See? Now we all match." He says, and Harry giggles beneath him.

 

*

 

"So then." Louis says a bit later, both boys leaning against Giulia’s tummy as she sleeps. He picks at the grass between them. "Are we gonna head home or just sleep here?"

Harry rolls onto his side to face Louis, smiling. "I don’t mind."

Louis drops his gaze to Harry’s smiling mouth and back up again. "What are you up to?" He smirks, amused.

"Nothing." Harry says innocently as he positions himself round to rest his head in Louis’ lap. Louis’ hands instinctively move to play with Harry’s hair, and just as he’s about to ask if it’s okay, Harry mewls and closes his eyes, craning his neck up into the touch. So that’s a yes, then.

"Doesn’t seem like nothing." Louis mutters and twists a curl around his finger a few times.

It’s quiet for a while, then Harry lets out a soft sigh. "Giulia really is special, you know that don’t you, Louis? Not all dragons have magical powers like that. I mean, Cincinnatus can fly really fast, not that I’ve tried it, but Niall has. And apparently he’s is the fastest dragon on record." Harry explains.

"Wow, that’s incredible." Louis smiles, not really paying attention to what Harry is saying, just fondly admiring how the moon dances along his jawline and casts thick shadows of his lashes on his cheeks. Just as Louis’ mentally noting how long Harry’s lashes are, the eyes above them blink open to reveal sleepy green irises, and Louis can’t help himself.

He leans forward, dipping down to catch Harry’s lips sideways. The angle makes it awkward, but it somehow adds to it, and one of Harry’s hands comes up to card through Louis’ hair and pull him down closer.

Then Cincinnatus grunts in his sleep, making Harry jump and bite on Louis’ bottom lip.

"Sorry…" He whispers, trying not to giggle too loudly. "Oops."

Louis’ still hovering over him. "How dare you laugh at my pain, you monster." He says, but there’s no passion behind it at all. His hair falls forward away from his face and his eyes never leave Harry’s as he leans over him sideways. Slowly, he smiles. "Hi."

Harry giggles lightly, smiling up at him and worrying his bottom lip. "Hi."

"I just realised we never said that before." Louis says, bringing a hand up to trace his fingers along the dips of Harry’s collarbones.

Harry hums, still looking up at Louis from his lap. "No, we didn’t, did we? I just scolded my dragon a bit and that was it."

Louis chuckles, moving his fingers to dance up the side of Harry’s throat. The curly-haired boy happily extends his neck to be lightly caressed further, and Louis smiles at the movement. "You did. So… It’s nice to meet you, Harry." He says, softly stroking just behind Harry’s ear and relishing in the way the boy’s eyelids flutter.

Harry’s eyes are closed. "Nice to meet you too, Louis." He replies, though it’s faint and not really all there. "Do you need someone to kiss your poorly lip better?"

And Louis smirks, even though Harry’s eyes are still closed and he doesn’t see it. He’s still gently running his thumb back and forth just below Harry’s jawline, and he grins as he ducks his head lower, brushing his nose against Harry’s once. "I think I do."

So Harry does. And this time, neither of the dragons make a sound.

And flying maybe gets knocked down a level on Louis’ list of favourite things.


End file.
